57th Day of Spring, 511 A.V.
Marcus had just returned from his shielding class when he felt the urge to do some experimenting. He had grown confident in his Reimancy abilities, and to a lesser extent, his shielding abilities as well. He was wary of making too much of a mess in the dorm provided to him, and so he tended to practice out by the waterfront. When Marcus was a kid, he used to relax down by the docks while his brother was unloading the day's catch. These days he used that site to practice his magic in an abandoned section of a warehouse. His brother had assured him that the owner was currently out on an extensive trade voyage, and wasn't due back for months. So to practice Marcus went.
When night fell, Marcus was eager to see how precise his control had become, as well as make use of his shielding class. Once again, his ambition perhaps exceeded his capabilities. But irregardless, Marcus went on, the task of the night to practice partial transmutation. He had quickly learned that once he had 'lit' his res, it left his control, and that had understandably caused quite a few problems. His professor had taught him a new technique to help progress his studies, and ever since he had been eager to develop it. By transmuting solely the outer layer of his res, Marcus was (supposedly) able to remain in control using the unchanged inner-core. Then, once it attained the correct motion, or was about to leave the realm of control, Marcus would transmute the core. That was the plan, and Marcus had at least dedication on his side.
Marcus concentrated deeply for a few minutes in order to create a shield around a small rock he had brought with him, setting it down well away from any crates or walls that could catch an ember. Creating shields was still an odd feeling for him, but his experience in Reimancy had assisted in the manipulation of his Djed. He stood back, and extended his hand before him, palm facing the ceiling, as he began to slowly release a controlled amount of res. He set it in a spinning motion above his hand, as it came to form a faintly glowing sphere of translucent green gas. In order to help focus himself while learning Reimancy, Marcus had gotten into the habit of gesturing whenever he did a transmutation. He had since outgrown that limitation, but when he wasn't under pressure, a little extra concentration never hurt. He raised his hand beside the floating ball of ethereal matter, and stood back a bit, snapping as he focused on the outer shell of the orb.
Marcus instantly felt the impact of his attempt, as he struggled to keep the now flaming ball of res under his control. He had reached too far into the core, and with only the tiniest amount of res remaining inside, his limited capabilities were not able to move it at will; nature had taken over from there. After a few futile moments, he let the ball dissipate, and he turned his focus onto the side project. Once again, he projected an insignificant ball of res, swirling above his hand. He focused on the slightly-shielded rock he brought for target practice, and propelled his ball of res towards it, igniting with a snap before it made impact. The shield shimmered as the ball hit, and the rock extinguished the flame in a subtle flash. Marcus smiled to himself, hoping for a positive result, and lo and behold, the shield held, allowing his own djed to pass through unphased. Marcus had not put too much Djed into the shield, and assumed that if his own djed did cause any friction with itself, the shield surely would've fractured. He did sense the weave was warm to the 'touch' now however, and he was curious if that was due to the shield's reaction, or if some of the fireball managed to penetrate through. Marcus mentally jotted that question down for a later class. For now, he was content with at least getting one experiment right, and turned his mind's eye back to the matter at hand.
For the third time, Marcus created a small sphere of gas before him, and concentrated deeply on the shape it took. He mapped it out thoroughly in his mind, focusing on the three-dimensional aspects it took on, and picking out very particularly the outer layer of it. After a minute of hard focus on this, he attempted once more. His focus was such that he did not even snap or clap, and willed the fire into existence as the room once again grew warm with fire. Marcus chuckled to himself as he saw the floating fireball, and slowly set it into orbit around an imaginary point. It had worked for the most part; he noticed the significant loss in control, but that was to be expected, and he would learn to accustom to that in time. As an extension of his experiment, which was already successful, Marcus decided to play around for just a bit. He deserved to spoil himself every now and then.
Marcus closed his eyes as he focused on the small scars on his arms, which had the welcome side-effect of working as an effective opening for his res. He expelled a pair of slender snakes out of his arms, his mind straining to manage them both, and made them wind their way towards the ball of fire. The multitasking was a bit too much for him however, as when he began moving them towards the fireball, his mind mistakenly focused on the wrong object, and the snakes lit ablaze around him. Marcus instantly pulled his arms into his sides as he did what his professors called the Emergency Escape, and willed with his entire body and mind that all of his res go straight down. Bent down at the knee, his arms over his head, Marcus felt his misconstrued creations gone, but there was one sensation that remained. A small patch of warmth on his right arm sent a warning up his spine, and as he looked over, a small flame had grown off of the cloth of his cloak. In a panic, Marcus let himself fall to the ground with a hard thump, and rolled a few times, not exactly happy about the idea of his cloak burning into flames. He laid there for a few moments on his back, before a chuckle erupted from his lips, followed by full-blown laughter. He was beginning to feel the exhaustion of a night of magic, and decided that was enough for now. He had learned his own limits, as well as his own capabilities, and with that he was more than content.
Well, Mission Accomplished. |
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